1991-2014

joematt1

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Comments

  1. This is as good a place as any to say I just saw “Boyhood” today. A friend billed it as anti-Malick, saying he’s building a reserve of such films. I recommended La Grande Bellezza towards that purpose. Possibly also Babette’s Feast, though I haven’t seen it yet. I am going to get around to watching To the Wonder & Tree of Life eventually…

    • Matthew Lickona says

      And what did you think of Boyhood?

      • It was a very watchable film. I didn’t check my phone for the time at any point after sitting down in the theater. The characters were sympathetic and their many faults made them look all the more human. Bits of dialogue such as Ethan Hawke (dad) talking to son about whether there must be a 7th Star Wars film were great for making me identify with them. [a scene filmed some 6-8 years ago at least] Alternately, I had a happy childhood, sans parents with multiple divorces. If that is to represent a composite of America, such as to explain how we are where we are I find it believable. Is it a heartwarming film? For the secular mind perhaps. But we see a young fellow eager to leave the things of “boyhood” behind, but it’s doubtful how soon he will reach “manhood.” He’s hopefully going to learn from his father’s mistakes, but the philosophy he expounds at the end of letting the moment take him can’t be much different from how his father approached his own life. One review my friend mentioned said the main character did not suffer enough for his mediocre life. His lack of scars also rings true, for despite his troubles with family life, he basically shrugs and moves on. If everyone was an emotional wreck we’d have collapsed as a nation long before. Faith appears briefly and fades away, but if you’re watching you’ll notice the boy’s religious grandparents are happy and still have each other. His mom can’t understand why she’s unhappy after dumping multiple husbands, getting her degree & teaching job. “[She] thought there would be more.” The film observes and does a good job of not passing heavy-handed judgement on anyone, leaving that to the audience. It’s not a must-see, but I’m glad I made the trek down to the NYC IFC with friends. Had a good discussion afterwards.

    • Hmmmm... says

      Is this a good place to talk about movies we’ve seen recently? Cause I watched SHame last night, and I’m not sure what I need to say about it, except that I watched it and cannot take that fact back.

      Good grief. What a horrible trip.

      • I fear I liked it more than you did. But then, I wrote Today in Porn for a number of years.

        • Time well spent for me. If only as a reminder of the wages of sin, and well I can’t have too many of those where this vice is concerned.
          It’s got sort of the same spirit of realism as Boyhood. The ending isn’t what you’d aspire to. Both are cautionary talees done right while set in our current society.

        • It was the definition of Today in Porn, true.

          And it definitely left the viewer with a need to cry out to a higher power.

          And it effectively illustrated the pathology of sex addiction, which seems pretty damn close to psychopathy.

          There was a subtle morality to it, even.

          It was just so hard to watch, which I guess, is par for McQueen movies.

          • The Besetting Demon from Augustine's Member says

            Agreed.

          • Also, that line, “we’re not bad people, we just come from a bad place,” ended up creating more questions than it answered. I wanted the movie to identify the wound that creates such pathologies, thereby hinting at some sort of prescription for having had to endure such a troubling diagnosis.

  2. Angelico Nguyen, Esq., OP says

    Gruff Huxtable

  3. Whoa.

    • Matthew Lickona says

      Yeah, it’s a pretty extreme sweater.

      • Angelico Nguyen, Esq., OP says

        The only justification I can concoct for the existence of such a sweater — and I’d be curious if any knitters among the readership could confirm or correct this — is that perhaps, before setting to work on the real knitting project at hand, one must first calibrate one’s needles by knocking out a yarn test pattern.

      • No, not the sweater – but the Moirai’s handiwork and how much Lechesis has donated to Philotes, Atropos of nothing, of course, yet cut whole Clotho as it were out of Xenia….

        The mixing-bowl between us, laughter and the droll parsed out,
        Drank to, we sat squared off, knee to knee,
        Exchanging demons for a weekend as once we exchanged
        Armor of expedition and trophies
        Of moment. The afterthought of many-wandering oars
        And the quick-fix oracle of fans
        For winnowing the distances, the silences, the storms,
        Aren’t enough for us to step from the porch.

  4. It’s too dark to tell, but are you wearing a wide-brimmed grandma hat too? What angle were you going for, exactly?

    • Matthew Lickona says

      The early ’90s were a dark time. I’m just glad the mullet was gone by the time this was taken.

  5. Hmmmm... says

    Some people get better looking with age, and some people….

    Actually, you’re both better looking now, or at least less affected.

    • JOB's Korrektiv Avatar says

      JOB was and is a handsome devil; Lickona’s face is falling apart like marzipan left in the sun.

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